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JAʿFAR AL-ṢĀDEQ

JAʿFAR AL-ṢĀDEQ, ABU ʿABD-ALLĀH, the sixth imam of the Imami Shiʿites. He was the eldest son of Imam Moḥammad al-Bāqer (q.v.) and, on the side of his mother, Omm Farwa, a descendent of Abu Bakr by four generations (Ṭabari, III/IV, p. 2509; Yaʿqubi, II, p. 458; Ebn Qotayba, p. 215). He spent most of his life in Medina, where he built up a circle of followers primarily as a theologian, Ḥadith transmitter, and jurist (faqih).